Meeting an old friend in Jinyang City
Chapter Sixty-Three
Zhou Yulin couldn't hear her own voice anymore and asked in a daze, "Then, does Senior Brother know about this news?"
Linghu Miao shook his head and continued, "I don't know either. After leaving the Xuanling Sect, I traveled north to Jinyang City. I noticed something was wrong after only a few days in the city. There was a powerful demon living in the city, but the barrier between the four realms couldn't be opened without the key. How did this demon manage to sneak in?"
"I wanted to send the message out, but I found that the city was full of spirit-removing arrays. All cultivators with spiritual power, no matter how strong, could not use their spiritual power in Jinyang City." Zhou Yulin was a little surprised when she heard this. She could use it, but this might be related to the fact that she came from the future. Therefore, she did not interrupt Linghu Miao.
“The message couldn’t get out, and Jinyang City was only accepting entry but not exiting. I was helpless and thought of Dongfang Min. I thought that maybe my aunt and senior brother had some way of contacting each other. As it turned out, I happened to witness that demon killing Dongfang Min.” Linghu Miao said with great regret, “If I had come earlier, I might have been able to save my aunt.”
Linghu Miao rarely regretted his actions, but he always seemed to feel a greater sense of responsibility towards his fellow disciples. "I failed to save Dongfang Min, and I know I have no face to go back and see him." His tone was indifferent, but his eyebrows were downturned.
Zhou Yulin couldn't find the words to comfort this person. If it were her, every time she saw her senior brother, she would think of the person she couldn't save, and a needle-like pain would spread through her heart.
Meeting is difficult, parting is even more difficult.
Linghu Miao sat alone on the haystack, recounting the powerless truth, "I couldn't beat them, so I was captured and brought here."
He lowered his head and said, "It's a pity. The first time I met Dongfang Min was when I asked her to tell my fortune. She slowly told me that what is destined to be yours will be yours, and what is not, you cannot force. The second time, she disappeared without a trace."
"So, you haven't returned to Xuanling Sect even once after you left, because of Aunt Dongfang's death?" Zhou Yulin said with great difficulty, each word distinct.
The question was a bit strange, but Linghu Miao didn't delve into it. "Hmm."
Zhou Yulin suddenly stopped, as if recalling something. "Then what was the reason you argued with Master back then, Senior Brother?"
Zhou Yulin only heard the gist of the argument at the time.
All I know is that the two disagreed on something and had a big argument.
“It’s about forbidden techniques.” Linghu Miao didn’t hide anything. “My disappearance for so many years was not due to an accident or natural disaster, but to human error. I was sold to an organization when I was still young. That organization specializes in forbidden techniques such as spirit swapping, soul swapping, and spiritual vein reconstruction. Among those captured here are nobles and royalty, but most are street beggars or newborn children.”
“They used children for research. Those who were physically weak or unable to resist were ruthlessly killed. I traveled north because I found one of the leaders of the organization back then. That woman eventually settled in Jinyang City. When I arrived at her residence, she was already dead. All I found on her was her research notes from that time, which I haven’t had a chance to look at yet. Here, take them back, Little Moon.”
Linghu Miao handed the ancient and worn scroll to Zhou Yulin, saying, "I believe in you. You can definitely bring this message back to the Xuanling Sect."
Zhou Yulin met Linghu Miao's hopeful gaze and gripped the scroll in her hand tightly. "Alright."
Emerging from the dungeon, Zhou Yulin dragged her weary body back to the private room the steward had arranged for her.
Perhaps because she was in charge of this demon king, the manager specially arranged for her to stay in a guest room closest to the Wind and Rain Pavilion.
Although it's the closest, it's still quite a distance. Perhaps the land rent near the mass grave is cheaper, because the city lord's mansion this person built is comparable to half of Jinyang City.
Zhou Yulin lay in bed, unable to sleep. She lit a candle and took out the scroll that Linghu Miao had given her.
She reads very quickly, skimming through ten lines at a glance.
until--
A familiar name came into view.
[He was sent here by his father; his spiritual veins are strong, but his cultivation speed is very slow.]
[After discovering he was immune to all poisons, he became my drug subject. This person doesn't cry, doesn't make a fuss, and is a perfect test subject.]
[They fed him poison, ran away, and punished him by making him kneel in the snow for a month.]
[I told him to go down the mountain and pick some herbs, but there weren't any. Then, that good-for-nothing actually stole the potion I'd developed! I just want to tear his tendons out.]
Upon seeing this line of text, Zhou Yulin's fingers clenched until they turned white. She quickly recalled the medicine Chen Muyao had given her that day.
So that's how it is. So that's how it is.
[Transplanting a spiritual vein is very painful, but he didn't utter a sound. I deliberately crushed his original spiritual veins to see him grimace in pain, but he remained expressionless. I think he probably doesn't feel pain.]
He's gone. He will be my most successful experiment.
As she read through the words, Zhou Yulin couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness spreading through her heart. No wonder she had so many injuries, no wonder she left in such a hurry, no wonder, no wonder. It's a pity she didn't notice sooner.
Zhou Yulin put away the scroll and recalled the first time she met Chen Muyao at the Xuanling Sect. This person was dressed in black, with extremely handsome features, but his eyes lacked the vitality of a young man. His daily routine consisted of nothing but sword practice.
She closed her eyes, and in her dream, she stepped on this person's back and said smugly, "So what if you practice swordsmanship every day? You still can't beat me."
The young man struggled for a moment, then said in a muffled, aggrieved voice, "You can only bully me in my dreams."
Zhou Yulin woke up with a start. The steward's voice came from outside the door, "Sleep, sleep, sleep! Comfort is for the dead! The master wants you to do some work!"
It was nighttime all day, so Zhou Yulin couldn't tell what time it was. She quickly pushed open the door and followed the steward, who instructed her, "Serving the Lord isn't easy. You have to stay by his side 24 hours a day, understand?"
Zhou Yulin said she didn't understand.
No wonder they're demons; they don't need to rest.
But Zhou Yulin is different; she gets sleepy if she doesn't sleep.
So, Zhou Yulin secretly yawned and stepped back into Fengyue Pavilion.
"Come in and grind the ink for me." Alarm bells rang in Zhou Yulin's mind, and she immediately became extremely vigilant. After the knock, Zhou Yulin stepped into the room. Unlike last time, candles were lit inside.
A figure swayed in front of the table. Zhou Yulin kept her head down, not daring to offend the other party.
Until the man said, "Come here."
Only then did he cautiously step forward.
Suddenly, her hand was grabbed by this person, and a deep voice, like a snake, pressed against her earlobe, "You've been to the dungeon?"
Suppressing her disgust, Zhou Yulin hurriedly withdrew her hand and lowered her head, saying timidly, "It was helping someone else."
"You are quite kind-hearted." It was a vague remark, but the person didn't seem to investigate further.
"Grinding ink," he said casually. "From now on, you'll be called Grinding Ink."
Zhou Yulin was speechless at the casual name, but still managed a smile and said, "Thank you, Master."
"Your smile does resemble hers somewhat," he said in a low voice. Zhou Yulin didn't look up, but when she heard this, she felt a chill.
Zhou Yulin was grinding ink, but the man seemed to have no intention of writing anything; he was just staring at him.
"Grind the ink."
It took Zhou Yulin a while to realize that the person was calling her.
Would you like to hear a story?
Zhou Yulin, who didn't really want to, said against her will, "Please speak freely, my lord."
His voice slowly rose from the deep darkness of the night.
"Once upon a time, there was a demon who cultivated by devouring love. Unfortunately, people in the demon realm rarely had genuine feelings, let alone love. So even when he reached adulthood, he was still a very weak demon who was bullied by his people."
"So one day, he ran away. He ran through the crack in the barrier to the human world, a place full of love. But he soon realized that no one falls in love with someone for no reason. He traveled a very, very long way and witnessed many, many marriages, but he was still very weak."
"That day, he attended a wedding with many guests, but the bride lifted her veil and ran away in front of everyone. He didn't understand why this man was unwilling to compromise, so he secretly followed the woman, helping her escape while also planning a chance encounter with her."
"Unexpectedly, the beasts he attracted were too powerful; even the demon himself couldn't defeat them. Just as he closed his eyes, resigned to his fate, a woman dressed in a red wedding gown, resembling a goddess, stood in his way with an aura that could hold off ten thousand men."
He was stunned. He had never seen anyone like this before. At the same time, his long-dormant demonic energy broke through. He clutched his rapidly beating heart, not understanding what this was.
"All he knew was that the woman was beautiful when she knelt down and smiled sweetly at him after driving away the beast. From that moment on, a seed sprouted in his heart."
The story unfolds like a traditional storybook: the two eventually get together, and the demon who was consumed by love meets a woman who deeply loves him.
The magic seemed to grow rapidly, and the seed gradually grew into a tree with deep roots and lush foliage.
Humans and demons are different. After learning the demon's identity, the woman fled as if she were running away.
The leaves fell, and the tree withered away day by day.
He had tried to start over, but failed.
Demons also have a very simple way of cultivating.
The other party didn't speak, but Zhou Yulin understood that it meant feeding on people's hearts.
She continued grinding ink without stopping, and the demon remained silent.
After a long pause, he asked, "Do you have someone you like?"
Just as Zhou Yulin was about to say no, the demon slowly said, "There should be, otherwise the Fate-Sharing Gu wouldn't have been planted."
He looked up at the non-existent moon outside the window. "Speaking of which, the sixteenth is almost here. Do you think your sweetheart will come?"
His tone was full of malice and sarcasm, "I don't think so."
Zhou Yulin couldn't understand what was wrong with this person, that he cared so much about other people's affairs.
He's clearly someone who can't even understand his own emotions.
"You can leave now," the voice said slowly. "Not even a mosquito can fly in here. If the Heart-Connecting Gu takes effect, you can come to me."
Zhou Yulin almost immediately cursed in her mind: "Crazy."
Whether this person comes or not is none of your business.
After coming out, Zhou Yulin sat on the steps, propping her head up with her hand, looking up at the dark sky. A long sigh came from inside the house, "All the love and affection in the world is an illusion."
"To come and go alone is the most carefree way."
So Zhou Yulin listened to motivational quotes all night.
The next day, feeling listless, she was assigned to bury three more people.
"My lord." The woman's melodious voice, filled with desire, was like a nightingale's song. She gazed at the man before her, accepting everything about him.
After a few thrusts, her arms slowly fell to her sides, her dazed eyes filled with tears. The man's cold hand gripped her waist, but the person on top of her remained detached, acting like a complete bystander. "Do you love me?"
Cuiyun wrapped her arms around the man's neck and leaned in to kiss him, whispering, "Love."
As soon as she finished speaking, her neck was twisted to the side, and she died instantly.
Zhou Yulin, standing at the door, hesitated whether to go in after hearing the panting.
The next second, however, came the reply: "Come in."
No, bro, that's way too fast.
And you just finished, you didn't call me in just to clean up the mess, did you?
Zhou Yulin stepped into the room with a death-defying spirit, and powerful demonic energy swirled around the room.
This was the first time she had ever seen a demon.
Unexpectedly, this person's appearance had nothing to do with a blue-faced, fanged appearance.
With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he was born with a handsome appearance, but the fierceness in his eyes added a touch of ruthlessness to his otherwise gentle appearance.
Remembering her current identity, Zhou Yulin quickly lowered her head. "The tea is ready. I heard some noises inside and waited at the door for a while. The tea must be cold now, so I'll go heat it up again."
"No need." The man's hoarse voice, still hoarse from recent lovemaking, reached Zhou Yulin's ears.
Just as she was marveling at how easy this person was to please today, a voice whispered in her ear, "Come forward and feed me."
Zhou Yulin pinched her fingers, her face turning pale.
Even her usual kind smile seemed a little strained.
Should I feed him? Is that the right thing to do?
"My lord, this...this is a different price." Zhou Yulin racked her brains before finally coming up with this sentence.
Terrified, the person seemed to glance at him again, "Go down."
As soon as she stepped outside, Zhou Yulin patted her chest; it had been a close call.
She had only taken two steps when she ran into the same maid from last time. The maid was holding a meal, smiling awkwardly, her meaning unspoken.
Zhou Yulin returned to the dungeon.
Practice makes perfect.
However, when she returned to the dungeon this time, a hand stopped her, and an aged voice slowly spoke amidst the noise, "Yu Lin?"
Zhou Yulin turned around. She didn't recognize the person, but the emotions from the original owner of the body told her that this person was an old acquaintance of Zhou Yulin. Looking at the person in front of her, she suddenly remembered what Liu Yue had said: around forty years old, with the cultivation level of Golden Core.
This person's identity is quite obvious.
"Yulin, what are you doing here?" Zhou Yuanfang looked at his daughter, his eyes filled with tears. "Dad hasn't been back for so long, and you've grown so much. Good, I'm relieved to see you doing well."
Zhou Yulin looked at her father, whose hair was already completely white at the age of forty, and slowly said, "Dad."
With just a single word, Zhou Yuanfang's tears began to fall.
Zhou Yulin heartlessly gave Linghu Miao's food to Zhou Yuanfang. The second senior brother wouldn't starve, but Zhou Yuanfang looked like he hadn't eaten in a very long time.
He wolfed down his food in just a few breaths, and now that he was full, Zhou Yuanfang remembered his business. His expression suddenly became extremely serious. "Listen up, Yulin, I don't care how you got in here."
"You must listen carefully to what your father has to say next."
Zhou Yuanfang swallowed hard, looking very nervous, and said, "Xuan Weixi wants to open the Fourth Realm, and now his plan is about to succeed."
“He is currently searching for twelve women born in the Yin year and Yin hour of the Yin calendar as sacrifices. Once the Fourth Realm is opened, there will inevitably be widespread suffering and no peace. Before Father was captured, he dug a passage. I will tell you the location, Yu Lin.”
But then her daughter immediately asked, puzzled, "Who is Xuan Weixi?"
"The Demon King is the current lord of Jinyang City."
He glanced at Zhou Yulin with lingering affection and asked cautiously, "You haven't been home for so long, will you blame your father?"
"No, as long as Dad is safe and sound, that's all that matters."
Zhou Yulin answered without the slightest hesitation.
Zhou Yuanfang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
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